And, the Medal of Honor, and a monument.

The MOH is for valor under hostile enemy fire.

He would be a candidate for "The Soldier's Medal", which is bravery when not under enemy fire.

Hugh Thompson, the helicopter pilot who argued with Calley in the field about My Lai was awarded the Soldier's Medal because he was defying his own troops.

In Basic training we were told we could and should, defy a unlawful order.
Thankfully I never had to do that.

I never had to disobey an unlawful order, but I did have to tell my LtC unit commander that I couldn't carry out his verbal order because I had a written order from a MajGen not to carry out that exact task without a written waiver from his office. Very uncomfortable saying no to my CO, who had direct influence over my career, even with the written order of a 3 star backing me up. I was an E-5 with a line number to sew on E-6 that he could have easily manufactured an excuse to take away from me if he had wanted to take it out on me.

When those Iraq War soldiers caught on camera abusing Iraqi prisoners said that were just following orders, I just about came unglued. We had an entire afternoon of lectures in Basic Training about the importance of disobeying illegal orders. When the shouting, screaming, frightening drill sergeants who drum obedience into you tell of the ethical and moral importance of disobeying illegal orders, you listen.

I fear that our war machine is also so commercialized by murderous corporations that hire the least conscientious, this type of countermanding of orders won't happen.

I was waiting for that.

And flew air ambulance after that, so I'm assuming it turned out favorably for him.

He was ordered to go into Cambodia, armed with a camera and with a platoon of ARVN (So Vietnamese soldiers). It was an intelligence mission.

He refused the order as he was knowledgeable enough to know it was illegal. At that time, the US Army was not allowed to operate in Cambodia until Nixon later ordered an incursion.

In effect, it ended his Army career, but by then he had seen enough and no longer wanted one.

It’s bothersome that such an order would be given by a superior officer, but with Trump’s interviewing Generals for promotion and demanding their personal loyalty, it increases the chances of it happening as most recruits, myself included, and junior officers wouldn’t know which orders or legal and which ones aren’t.

And I believe there are plenty of decent young men and women in the military today. They are not going to wage war against American civilians in DC, LA, or anywhere else -- no matter how many orders come down from trump and Hegseth!

... an illegal order.

both times, our unit had very level headed LT's who would have refused an illegal order, so I, we, never had to deal with such a situation, but KUDOS to this Veteran and all who refused and suffered the consequences for their refusal, Hand Salute.

How many had to convince themselves that it was OK to follow illegal orders just to get thru every day for the rest of their lives? How many had to grow so very hard over the wounds in their souls just to pretend they were still alive and that it was OK? It was 'duty'?

How much damage did it do to our beloved nation, our beloved neighbors, our brothers, our fathers, when those very young men had to change from sweet boys with promise into hard men with hate?

There are so many reasons I never attended a school reunion. I knew the empty chairs would eat me alive. But I think deep inside, I knew seeing faces of the ones who came home with destroyed minds and empty hearts would be even more painful.

Where did you serve?
Thank you for your service.
Glad you made it home.
Let me buy you a beer.
Lets go vote for the pols who feed at the corporate trough and show those libs how tough we are.


Alcohol, drugs, hate, bad choices, denial just to survive to see the next sunrise. Loneliness that just makes hearts even harder.

It didn't have to happen. But profits for the MIC! Money for the stockholders! Rah rah, let's trick the next generation into feeding the MIC with their souls and lives.

It did not have to fucking happen.

Nightly news should air this